Hospitals Have to Post Prices Starting January 1st

Trump's administration is doing something good, really good. I think a little piece of Buzz just died inside while I wrote that. Ha!

Anyway, with as much of a beating as the President takes on the show, I feel we need to give credit where credit is due. One thing that Trump has been pushing for while he's been in office is improving the healthcare system in the United States. And that's starting to happen.

One of the worst things you could happen to you is having some sort of emergency or health issue and then getting stuck with a gigantic bill. Well, we're working towards that not being the case.

It can be difficult getting an answer as to how much something will cost at the hospital. But a new rule called the Inpatient Prospective Payment System Rule is looking to change that. Hospitals are already required to disclose their prices publicly, but this new rule will make the put those prices online, giving the public easier access to them.

Here are some of the others items listed in the proposed policy changes:

Stop “surprise billing” by providers

Provide patients better information up front about the out-of-pocket costs they will face

Encourage further transparency from providers, including providing tools for comparing prices and making public which institutions are out of compliance with transparency measures

Push providers reimbursed by Medicare to take more steps in making their electronic health records interoperable